OK, I have now fished two dorber lil streamer rods a number of times ..... again, they are a 6 foot, 3 section, 3 weight for a backpack, and a 5' 6", 2 section, 5 weight for a heavier line. As dorber suggested, I have gone to lines with short tapers. (I cut some of the taper off, and put on those cortland connectors that secure with heat shrink tubing so I have a nice loop to attach a leader).
I have now fished some of the same holes on small, brushy brookie streams with the dorbers and other rods of about the same length (a 6 ft orvis superfine 4 weight, and a 6 ft cabelas TQR 5 weight).
The dorbers really do make a a difference when you need to shoot line with less backcasting space because of branches. After fishing some short-backcast holes with a dorber lil streamer, and then going back with one of the other rods, it is clearly harder to shoot the line without the dorber's set of 10 oversize guides on even a 5' 6" rod. That doesn't really surprise me, there are many more guides on a dorber and they are much bigger.
With unlimited backcasting space in the yard, I can make a longer cast with the 6 ft 5 weight cabela's TQR than the 5' 6" 5 weight dorber lil streamer. (But there are no brookies in the yard!) In the real world of a restricted backcast on a brookie stream under trees, I can shoot more line with the 5' 6" dorber. The dorbers are just easier to use and more effective on the kind of streams they're made for. Nice.
Of course these rods are not for everyone and every stream, but for small, brushy brookie streams, they really do let you shoot more line with a short backcast, and at about $110-$130 I think they are a great deal. Very light and they seem well made. Wish I found them earlier!
Hard to describe what I mean by a "small stream," people have different ideas of that ... I would like to name specific streams, but it raises concerns here about having more people fish there.
